The Volunteers

Richard has more than 30 years experience in the UK as a company director both in the private and voluntary sector and was a Chartered member of the Institute of Directors.

Following a career as a shipbroker in the City of London, Richard has been involved in the voluntary sector for the last 24 years, most notably as chairman of a successful small charity supporting people living with an acquired brain injury; as chairman of the tenants association for the Barbican Estate in the City of London; and for 8 years as a director and treasurer of a landscape conservation charity in the west of Ireland.

Having moved to Edinburgh in 2017, Richard has worked with the Society as a Board advisor focusing on Governance and Business Planning, becoming a trustee in early 2022 and taking over as Chair later that year.

Meredith grew up in a sailing town called Lymington in Hampshire, where everyone sailed, including her family. Her dad was a very keen sailor and represented the USA at international races; he was also a professional marine artist, so as a child Meredith spent a lot of her time either at harbours or art galleries.

A former curator of Historic Photographs and Ship Plans at the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, and Curator of Maritime History at Aberdeen Maritime Museum, Meredith was also responsible for curating the new Windermere Jetty Museum of Boats, Steam and Stories in the English Lake District. As well as working in museums Meredith previously worked as project administrator on the first British offshore wind farm at North Hoyle, Wales.

Dr Meredith Greiling is Principal Curator of Technology at National Museums Scotland with responsibility for all land, sea and air transportation in the collections.

Scott is our Lead Tour Guide and Tours Coordinator. He is in charge of arranging tours of SS Explorer and showing our visitors around the ship.

He originally worked as a car mechanic, before moving offshore as an engineer crewing wind farm transfer vessels.

Scott is also a responder with Lothian 4x4 Response, an organisation set up to support local communities and services during times of extreme weather events.

Jim was the Senior Inspector of the Quality Control department of George Ballantine Whisky distilleries and then went on to work 18 years in the offshore oil and gas industry.

He worked offshore as part of the catering crew on ships and rigs, with that background has taken on the housekeeping roll onboard, I also give any visitors a guided tour of the Explorer.

Vlad joined the volunteer crew at the Explorer in February 2025 as a tour guide. After retiring from teaching science and moving to Leith from West Yorkshire she wanted to continue to contribute to society and at the same time learn new things.

The Explorer was a perfect fit as it embraces the wealth of science, engineering and maritime knowledge and history

Adrian is the technical advisor to the board as well as one of our maintenance crew. He has volunteered in the operation and restoration of several historic ships in both Germany and the USA since 2018.

His duties involve planning and budgeting for maintenance activities and supporting the board in technical matters while actively carrying out repair works on our ship.

Being originally from Germany, Adrian has served in the German Navy, where he found his passion for historic ships. He spent five years working in the renewable energy sector before completing a master’s degree in Wind Energy Technology at Bremerhaven University. Currently he lives in Edinburgh and works in the Scottish offshore wind industry.

Andy is a retired teacher from Leith, having served as previous Chair of the Explorer group, he now advises the group and provides research for grant applications.

“Everyone knows Leith as the home of the Royal Yacht Britannia, but other than that, there isn’t very much in the way of Leith’s maritime history being explored, so hopefully we can help plug that gap.

The Explorer has been in Leith for more than 20 years and in that time, there has been basic work, warding off the effects of rust, a few tidy ups, but nothing particularly extensive. The plan now is to get the story of The Explorer out there and hopefully start restoring it with as many original features as possible.”

Jack was born and raised in Leith, Edinburgh. He moved to the Scottish Borders in his earlier years where he finished his schooling. Upon finishing his education, he returned to Edinburgh where he worked as a Civil Servant in the field of Project and Programme Management, in various departments.

Jack's favourite hobby and strongest interest is of the history of the British Isles. One of Jack's favourite past-times is domestic travel of the British Isles, particularly of rural areas and the Scottish Islands, of which he has visited many. This spurred an interest in the maritime nature and coastal heritage of the country. Jack is a keen DIY person and enjoys house painting and gardening. Combining his love of Scottish Heritage, interest in older eras (particularly of the mid 20th Century) and his DIY enthusiasm, Jack was keen to provide hands on support to the team's effort of SS Explorer's restoration.

Jack dedicates his efforts and time to restoring SS Explorer to his much-loved late grandmother, Florence Fuller (1931 - 2023), a lifelong resident of Leith. 

Richard is a Canadian digital marketing specialist who studied archaeology at the University of Alberta. He recently moved to Edinburgh with his Geordie fiancée and joined the SS Explorer Project to meet new people and learn new skills working with power tools.

He is proud to have made the move to Scotland and to be part of a community dedicated to preserving maritime heritage. Richard’s connection to Scotland and museology runs deep. His ancestors were MacDonalds of Glencoe, who left during the Highland Clearances and migrated to Canada with the Selkirk Settlers that founded the Red River Colony in the early 1800s.

As a Scottish–Métis Canadian, he is passionate about heritage and the preservation of shared cultural histories. Although he has no prior experience in the conservation and restoration of metals, he is eager to learn and contribute to the ongoing care of the ship.